


broken hearts still beating

by siehn



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Teambuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-15
Updated: 2012-05-15
Packaged: 2017-11-05 10:10:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/405249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siehn/pseuds/siehn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve gets the team together for a team-building exercise of baking cookies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	broken hearts still beating

**Author's Note:**

> PFFAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH. 
> 
> So. This?
> 
> This is ridiculous. And possibly out of character? I don't even know. It was supposed to have more Steve/Tony, but the characters refused to do anything but tease each other over cookies. 
> 
> I AM SHAMELESS, AND REGRET NOTHING.

In retrospect, getting the team together to bake cookies probably wasn’t the best idea. 

None of them were exactly normal, or mature, or anything but themselves, really, and the point is he should have known. Instead, they’re standing in his kitchen because his is the only floor _with_ a kitchen for some reason he isn’t going to ask about, covered in flour, and sugar, and there’s a very large puddle of milk on the floor steadily seeping towards Bruce’s foot. 

It’s basically a disaster area, and there’s a dough-y hand-print on the back of Steve’s neck because Tony doesn’t know how to keep his hands to himself at the best of times, much less when they’re covered in something sticky, and sugar-y. It is partially Steve’s own fault; he’s the one who took up the space right next to Tony, and he really knows better. He’s also the one who slipped in the milk, grabbed Tony on the way down, and caused both of them to end up covered in flour when the bowl up-ended all over them. 

Steve’s pretty sure that was actually either Clint or Tasha, but he can’t actually prove it, so he’s keeping his accusations to himself. 

Tony isn’t. “It was a filthy, filthy trick, Barton, and there will be no new toys for you until you own up to it,” he says, pointing a sticky finger in Clint’s direction,. Clint just grins and steals the dough from Tony’s tray to pop in his mouth. His tray is currently being put to use by Natasha, who has perfectly round cookies lined up neatly, but Steve is not fooled at all. 

“Is that Morse Code in chocolate chips?” Bruce asks, and Steve sighs heavily, carefully setting a cookie down on his tray. 

“Can you read it?” Tasha returns curiously, shuffling sideways to let the Doctor in between where she’s standing, and where Clint’s perched on the counter, alternating between eating the cookie dough, and the chocolate chips. 

Team-building, he reminds himself. This was _his_ idea, and he has to live with it. 

Natasha has steadily been writing more creative insults to Clint on each cookie, and those are very dirty jokes, and when he looks up at her, she’s smirking at him. He is _not_ going to blush; he spent time with the Howling Commandos and _no one_ could top those guys for dirty jokes. 

“Thor!” Tony calls, and holds up a hammer-shaped cookie just to see Thor’s face light up. He hasn’t quite got the hang of shaping the cookie dough, and has been steadily poking a very large ball of it for the last half hour. Steve can see where this is going. 

“An excellent replica of Mjolnir!” Thor enthuses, and Tony’s grinning that real grin that lights him up all over, and Steve can’t really bring himself to say anything that might make it go away. Tony doesn’t get to let loose and just be himself that often, and it took him long enough to feel comfortable doing it around them. Steve’s hardly going to say anything that might make Tony go hard, and closed-off again. 

Besides, the sight of Tony leaning over Thor’s ball of cookie dough with his tongue poking out of his mouth as he attempts to mould the dough into some vague hammer-shape is kind of…Something. He’s definitely not complaining, or blushing when Natasha catches his gaze once he looks up again, and is still smirking at him, this time knowingly. 

He makes a face at her, grabbing Clint’s hand when it comes questing towards his tray of evenly-lined cookies. “It isn’t nice to steal cookies, Clint,” he says, and pulls out the ‘Captain America is Disappointed in your Life Choices’ look because Steve isn’t above using what he’s got, and he learned early to play dirty with these people. He has to keep up somehow. 

It’s also hilarious that Clint actually looks chastened for the minute it takes him to realize he’s been played. Then he just sticks his tongue out, and snatches one of Tony’s odd-shaped pieces of dough instead. 

Steve…Isn’t really sure what Tony was making, there. That one might be a dinosaur, or possibly a wrench. It kind of looks like Dum-E, too, a little, but he’s not one hundred percent certain. 

“Uh, Tony?” He’s really kind of curious, because that one could maybe be his shield, and the one in the corner looks like the weird lobster-creature they cornered in the harbor last week. “What _are_ these?”

Tony glances up from where he’s helping Thor carve symbols in the Mjolnir-cookie with a toothpick. “What?” He blinks, raises an eyebrow that makes Steve feel immediately defensive. “You have issues with shaped cookies, Cap?” 

Steve holds up his hands, and shakes his head because no. He’s not even touching that one. “No issues, Tony,” he says, shrugging. “Just…Is that the lobster-thing from last week?” It looks like it. Sort of. 

“That one is definitely a Doombot,” Clint puts in, pointing to the odd-shaped thing in the middle of the tray. “Or a blob-monster, but I’m going with Doombot,” he adds after a minute of everyone staring at it. 

“Actually,” Tony says, glaring as he pulls his cookie tray away, “it _is_ a Doombot, and that _is_ the giant lobster monster that nearly ate Clint.” 

“It didn’t nearly eat me!” 

“Had our large green friend not dealt the monster such a strong blow, it would have surely eaten you, Hawkeye,” Thor booms, and Bruce looks like he can’t decide between smiling, or flinching. At least he’s not _just_ flinching anymore. 

“Sorry, Clint,” Natasha chimes in, picking up a chocolate chip, “I’m gonna have to go with Thor on that one. It _did_ almost eat you.” The chocolate chip hits Clint square between the eyes, and falls into the mess already on the floor. 

Steve is really not going to be the only one cleaning this up. He knows they’re going to try to pull out the ‘important things to do’ excuses, but Steve knows better because he knows them, by now. It’s still a little strange, having people in this time, but he’s getting used to being forcibly dragged out into the world by various team members, and also having to do his own forcibly dragging when Tony forgets he’s actually human. 

Tony grins, and picks the cookie-lobster up, giving it to Clint. “Look,” he says, and he’s far too pleased with himself, “now you can eat _it_.” 

“Oh God, don’t--” Bruce starts, looking pained. 

“Revenge is sweet!” Clint crows, taking a bite out of the head while Tony bursts into the rare, almost free sort of laughter they barely ever hear from him. 

Steve can’t help the slightly goofy grin he gets; this is rare for them, this sort of carefree downtime, but he’s definitely going to do something about that. They save the world on a semi-regular basis; they should at least be able to enjoy themselves every once in a while. 

“That was terrible,” he laughs, shaking his head, and doesn’t even pretend to frown when Natasha slaps the back of Clint’s head. 

“You’re only encouraging the madness,” Bruce agrees, easily dodging the cookie dough Tony throws at him in retaliation. 

“Fuck you, my madness is awesome,” Tony tells them all, pointing a sticky finger, and they all glance at each other for maybe half of a second before they’re all laughing again. 

“You are most brilliant, Tony,” Thor claims, leaning over to inspect the tiny inscriptions drawn into the dough of his hammer-cookie. “This is a most worthy replica, and shall taste delicious!” 

Which, actually baking the cookies is the whole point of this, and they should probably get on with that. “Tony,” Steve says, looking down at the odd shapes, and wondering if he should even bother, “you know those won’t bake evenly, right?” 

Tony sighs heavily, and pats Steve on the back like he’s missed some kind of vital cultural reference again. “It’s not about having perfect cookies, Steve,” he says, a little grin on his face that’s _real_ , and just for Steve. “It’s okay if they’re a little gooey on the inside, ‘cause they’re still good.”   
There’s no way Steve can just not grin at that, leaning into Tony a little. He doesn’t mind the arm that slips around his waist, or the knowing looks thrown in their direction. Tony has a good point, after all. 

“Alright,” Bruce interrupts, picking up Clint’s tray of insulting cookies, and sliding them into the oven beneath Tony’s. “Let’s get these things cooking. I could really go for some cookies and milk right now.” 

“That is a good plan, my friend,” Thor offers, walking around the counter to join them on the messy side. “A cold glass of milk, and many of the small chocolate-cookies will make for an excellent snack!” 

Which, that’s a really good plan, and it’s nice to know that some things haven’t changed. 

Steve still isn’t letting them off clean-up duty, though.


End file.
